Seriously, governor?

December 13, 2012 - Jim Anderson

Over the past few days, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has said repeatedly that he doesn’t view right-to-work legislation as being anti-union.

His logic is flimsy, at best.

Under so-called “right-to-work,” employees don’t have to pay union fees as a condition of employment — even as a union represents them in negotiations.

On Mike Huckabee’s radio show, Snyder said:

“I view it as if the unions did it appropriately, this should make them more responsive, because it really means they have to be listening to workers more attentively and really presenting the value proposition to them. Because if they were doing all the things that workers were looking for, there shouldn’t be any difference with this legislation at all. Workers would simply choose to join the union, versus not choosing.”

So, Snyder essentially says that if the unions are performing well, workers will gladly pay their dues.

Well, sure.

Maybe we could apply this kind of thinking to school districts as well. Voters in the district could approve a referendum, but payment of the levy would be voluntary. Talk about making schools responsive!

Or maybe garbage collection fees should be voluntary as well. If the truck is too noisy, skip a payment or two.

Or how about state income taxes? You only have to pay them if you’re happy with the governor’s “value proposition.”

There are any number of arguments — pro and con — that can be made about “right-to-work.”

But pretending that the legislation doesn’t undermine unions is a joke. To put it kindly.